Peace Celebrations - Masboro, Rotherham

Postcard from my personal collection

This postcard shows peace celebrations taking place in the Masbrough area of Rotherham. A group of children stand in the forefront of the photograph, while the terraced houses in the street behind them are hung with bunting and allied flags. When I look at this photo the first thing that springs to mind is  one single question"How many of those children lost their fathers in the war?" This postcard was originally part of a collection that once belonged to someone who lived on Wortley Road, Rotherham.

Hickleton Hall during WW1

Hickleton Hall is located just over 6 miles North West of  Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The hall was built during the 1740s and subsequently purchased by the Wood family in 1828. Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Charles Wood, The 2nd Viscount Halifax opened up his home to some of the

Soldiers stood outside Hickleton Hall by photographer P Rogers

Postcard from my personal collection.

many Belgian refugees, who had fled to England after their homeland had been destroyed by German troops: Allowing them to stay in the hall's reading room. Through out the war the house also functioned as an unofficial military hospital for injured soldiers.

I recently bought this postcard of convalescing soldiers stood outside the main entrance to Hickleton Hall. The style of uniforms pictured & crossed flags suggest this could be a mixed group of allied soldiers rather than just British soldiers.

Postcard of Hickleton Hall dated 1918
From my personal collection

Lord Halifax's son, the future 1st Earl of Halifax, Edward Frederick Lindley Wood also played an important role in WW1. During the first part of the war he saw active service as a Captain with the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons, despite rising to the role of  Major, in late 1917 he was relived from duty, in order to take up the post of deputy director in the Ministry of National Service, an unsurprising job offer, considering Edward had always been a keen supporter for the introduction of conscription. Prior to the war he had been elected as Conservative MP for Ripon, a position he held until 1925. In 1904 Edward had inherited Temple Newsam at Leeds, from an aunt, which was also re-purposed as a military hospital for the duration of the war. Edward's wife Dorothy even worked there as a nurse, tending to wounded soldiers.

During in the Second World War, Hickleton Hall was made headquarters of I Corps after the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940. In 1947 the family relocated to their alternative home at Garrowby, East Yorkshire and leased the hall to St, Hilda's School. From 1961 to 2012 it functioned as a Sue Ryder care home. Hickleton Hall is currently undergoing renovations, you can learn more by visiting this website: Hickletonhall.co.uk/

Information sources:
Doncaster1914-18.org.uk - Hickleton Hall
Wikipedia.org - Edward Wood,1st Earl of Halifax

Bill Hudson: A WW1 Prisoner of War

The following is an interview given to a local newspaper by my great uncle William Hudson, about his experience as a German prisoner of war during 1918. The interview took place in 1942 when he was 55 years old. William, who was better known as Bill or Billy to his family and friends, was serving as a private with the 9th Manchester regiment when he was captured. He was held at Gustrow camp in Mecklinberg, Germany for the last 6 months of the war.

"Mr Hudson [referring to William's older brother,Tom, who had recently passed away] was one of three unmarried brothers who with the means and opportunity for academic advancement, might very well have a squired to professors' chairs. One of them Mr. William Hudson, (55) has mastered three languages in addition to his own - German, French and Spanish - without the assistance of a tutor. The desire to learn foreign languages came to him when he was working as a prisoner behind enemy lines in France in 1918. They had a stream to cross and a big burly German asked "Konnen Sie nicht Schwimmen?" and that did it. Not more than six months later the Armistice came, but in the meantime he had acquired a conversational knowledge of the enemy's lingo. This accomplishment enables him to listen with interest to foreign broadcasts.

Mr Hudson's experiences as a prisoner of war provide a remarkable story which, but for the present conflict might have been considered outdated. Something of the privation he endured maybe gathered from the fact while in enemy custody he was reduced in weight from 12 stones to 7 stones and has never recovered. Actually he has only worked two and a half years since the last war. He said "I was two months and never had a taste of fat. Our fellows were collapsing all round through  sheer exhaustion, due to lack of food. We had one loaf of bread per day for four men and the man who cut it had last pick - so you can guess it was cut correctly."

Remarking that there are good and bad even among Germans, Mr. Hudson said one ran great risks to get him food from a dump. On the other hand another German N.C.O was in the habit of cutting a switch from the hedge and striking them across the face with it, calling them "English pigs." When he asked the guard why this man was so cruel he replied he alleged he had seen his brother shot after putting his hands up to surrender.

Bill's grave in Wombwell cemetery.

Mr. Hudson was not at all reproachful. He said the German soldiers were faring little better and had no food to spare. By way of authentication  he went to a cupboard and pulled out a small loaf of very dark and husky bread. This was his last ration given to him while he was a prisoner . He has kept it 24 years and it still looks eatable!

This is the end of the transcript. The anti - German tone of the article is very apparent, describing them always as 'enemies' and adding an air of disbelief to the tale of the German soldier being shot while surrendering by  using the word 'alleged' This is no doubt because it was written during the second world war.

Prior to the war Bill had been employed as a railway porter, however, after he was discharged from the army he found himself unable to return to full time work due to the physical and psychological trauma he suffered as a prisoner of war. This next bit is the part of Bill's story that I like the most and I think its also says a lot about the type of person he must have been; During the second world war he used to visit a nearby interment camp to converse with the German pows held there. He obviously knew what it was like to be a captive in a foreign country, hundreds of miles from home and loved ones, in a place where you couldn't speak the native tongue . It was very moving to learn that his experience had made him more compassionate and understanding, rather than bitter and hateful. Bill never married or had children, he died at Beckett Hospital on the 15th January 1953 aged 65.